“We do not know how many of these letters actually went out,” said Chief Mark Iwasa. “The ones we have become aware of are all out of state.”

Iwasa said the scam involves fake checks, supposedly issued by the University of Sacramento State Foundation, and have the organization’s actual account number, but are bogus. The checks cannot be cashed.

Iwasa said two checks surfaced last week, one from a resident in Connecticut.

Accompanying the check is a letter from a fictitious company, Intercontinental Lottery Management, which says the recipient has won $300,000.

The letter advises the fake check is to cover handling fees and taxes. The recipient is asked to deposit the check and immediately send a personal check back to cover the expenses.

“It doesn’t make sense to most people but there are victims that do that,” said Iwasa.

So far, officials say no victims have been reported and the foundation has not lost any funds.

However, the U.S. Postal inspector is investigating with assistance from the FBI, according to Iwasa.